Touching Gold
by VerelLupin
Summary: What if Sheriff Swan hadn't gotten there right away? What information could Mr. Gold have beaten out of Moe French? Rumbelle
1. Chipped Not Broken

**I was taken hostage by the Rumbelle Love (Actually had to look up the Rumbelle Wars. Still fuzzy)**

**Anyhoo. These two need more sappy fluffy love. So here's my contribution. **

**I will be adding more. **

**Enjoy...**

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><p>"I normally don't let people get away." Gold uttered putting the gun down on the table.<p>

"Let me explain, ok." Moe said fearfully as Gold pulled up a chair in front of him. "Let me explain."

"Oh…that is… fascinating. Truly… fascinating."

Gold took great delight in shoving his walking stick down the man's gullet. He imagined all the sorts of disgusting things that the cane had picked up through out the day and pushed down harder bowing it and making sure that French tasted every bit of ground in Storybrooke. "I'm going to let you breath in a second. And you're going to say two sentences."

Moe attempted to leverage out the cane and maybe explain his actions but all he could do was hang on to it in desperation as Gold continued explaining the rules, "the first is going to tell me where it is. The second is gonna tell me who told you to take it. Do you understand the rules?" Moe nodded. "Good, let's begin."

"I needed that van." He chocked out.

Gold made a dismissive sound, "now…you see that's not a good first sentence." Then he hit Moe hard.

"Ow…Gold…listen."

"Tell me where it is?" Gold asked hitting him harder.

"Stop." He pleaded.

Gold hit him again. "Tell me where it is."

"Please stop." The man cried holding out his hands in surrender. "It wasn't my fault."

That enraged Gold. "My fault? What are you talking about my fault?" The man looked on terrified, as Gold's very appearance seemed to shift. "You shut her out. You had her love and you shut her out!" Gold shouted and hit him as hard as he could.

"She's gone. She's gone forever… she's not coming back. It's your fault." Gold's accent thickened and he rained blows down on the man. "Not mine, you are her father. It's your fault."

"It's yours. Yours. Yours." He repeated over and over beating Belle's father until he was so bloody that you could barely distinguish the face underneath. "It's your fault, she's gone."

"She's not gone." The man gurgled through his own blood.

"Speak up!" Gold shouted and the man cringed backward.

"The hospital. Had to lock her up."

"What?" he said and lifted the man off the chair. "Speak you miserable bastard."

"Belle. In the hospital. Talked of other lives, screamed of other places. Of a man with a golden face."

Gold dropped him back onto the chair and hurriedly dialed 911. "If you're lying. I'll kill you with my bare hands."

Moe desperately finished, "basement level."

He finished talking to the operator just in time to see the sirens. "Not one word. You hear me," he threatened and Moe curled out of sight as Gold opened the door and greeted the woman. "Sheriff Swan, what a delight."

"Cut the crap, Gold. I know you have Moe French in there."

Gold closed the door behind him and blocked it. "What an imagination but even if that were the case you are on my property and have no probable cause to search my home."

The ambulance pulled up and Swan raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"

"Sheriff. I called them." The men took the gurney from the ambulance and Gold moved out of the way. "Mr. French has been severely beaten by some unknown persons and I just happen to find him."

"Unknown? Really?"

Gold shrugged and moved once more as the gurney with Moe on it was wheeled into the ambulance.

"I know what you did to that man but I'm more curious as to why."

Gold limped his way down the stairs and up to the ambulance. "I told you. Bad things happen to bad people."

"Yeah I remember your observation."

"I was wondering if I could persuade you to take me to the hospital. I'd really like to see that Mr. French gets there in one piece."

"Normally I'd say no way in hell but I want to see how far you take this little show of yours and this could square us away."

He ignored her comment, "no, you'll still owe me."

"Then you better get in before I change my mind."

Gold tipped an imaginary hat and slipped into the front of the squad car. Emma got in and followed the ambulance. "You're not going to tell me what he stole from you, are you?"

"I told you it was something precious. "

"What happened to French looked very personal, Mr. Gold. Too personal to be over a thing."

"My things are very dear to me. I don't like anybody mistreating them. Perhaps whoever did that to Mr. French feels the same, not that I condone that kind of violence but it is understandable to a certain degree."

"If you say so." Emma replied and slowed down as they pulled up to the hospital.

"This will do." Gold said and carefully exited the car.

"I'll escort you in." Emma said. "Don't forget somebody assaulted Mr. French very violently. Wouldn't want the same happening to you, now would we?"

"Indeed not. Thank you for your concern."

They entered the hospital and he walked away from her as quickly as he could. He knew that Emma was watching him but he had no time for her right now. He needed to know if what French had said was true or if it had been a ruse to get him to stop the beating.

Either way the man would pay but for now he had to check. He had to verify that the hope he was feeling had a reason to exist. He went to the area past intensive care and down and beyond Dr. Whale's office.

A nurse spotted him and chased after. "I'm sorry sir, this area is staff only."

"Why is that?" he asked halting his progress.

The nurse blinked and gulped audibly when she saw who she was speaking to, "Mr…Go…Gold. I…um not sure really."

"It's all right dear but I really must see the young lady housed down there." He pointed with his cane at the door hidden in the shadows.

The nurse hesitated but something about the way he was looking at her made her walk to the door. She paused as if trying to shake off a trance but then typed in the number on the keypad. He looked down and waved the woman away. "I'll take it from here."

The nurse closed the door and went back to her duties. She stood in front of her desk for a second before shaking her head and looking around confused.

Gold maneuvered the stairs carefully. With Regina being in control of this place, one couldn't be too careful and he kept that in mind when he neared the bottom of the steps. He went through the doorway and came to a lonely desk where a stern blond nurse sat reading a magazine.

She immediately got up and blocked his way. "You should not be here, this area is restricted."

Gold leaned on his cane nonchalantly as if they were discussing nothing more important than the weather. "Why is that?"

"Nobody is supposed to see her." The nurse said but her eyes were glazing over.

"Is that a fact? Call madam mayor so I may ask her permission."

The nurse scrutinized him trying to figure out how he had grabbed the phone without her seeing him move from his spot. "She'll be so angry," the woman said with a blank expression.

"Go on. I'll take care of it."

The nurse did not protest further and she found herself dialing the mayor. Regina picked up on the first ring. "This had better be very important."

"It is." Gold's voice rumbled through the phone line. "Please listen carefully."

Compelled Regina gripped the phone hard in her hand. "Go on."

"You are going to tell this lovely woman that I am not only to see Arabella French but that I will be checking her out as well. She will be signed over into my care and you will leave us alone for a month. Say you agree, please."

"I agree." Regina said between gritted teeth.

"Thank you dear. Please don't bother to come down here either and Mayor Mills…one more thing-"

"What is it?"

"Keep the cup. I don't need it." Gold handed back the phone to the woman who listened blankly as Mayor Mills repeated everything he'd said word for word.

The woman hung up the phone and gave him a clipboard with some paperwork. He looked it over reading all the fine print then signed his name with a flourish.

"Very well. This way Mr. Gold."

"I don't want to trouble you further. Just tell me where to go and I'll get her myself."

"Follow this corridor make a left. It's the fifth door on the right."

"Thank you." He said and finding he sincerely meant it, released the woman's mind.

He followed the directions passing a janitor and more doors than he cared to think about. Regina's secrets would have to keep for now. He had hoped and prayed too long for this very moment to happen; to be derailed by the Queen's many other crimes against the citizen's of Storybrooke.

He slowed down as he came to the fifth door and nervously opened it. **'What would she look like? Would she be scarred and broken? Would she be aware of whom I am? Will she be angry I came? Am I ready to handle her not recognizing me?' **

Gold steeled himself and stepped into the gloom. At first all he saw was nothing more than a hunched up figure but as his sight became accustomed to the darkness he was able to make out more details that indicated that it was indeed his Belle.

He could see her bare and dirty feet. The voluminous gown that covered a no doubt thin frame and dark brown hair that hung in tangled strands. She lifted her head and he saw the face he'd been seeing in his dreams and nightmares for the last 28 years.

She watched him silently and he closed the gap ignoring the beautiful blue eyes that regarded him with a mix of confusion and suspicion. He took a deep breath and she slid her legs down so slowly that the material rustled against the stone where she sat.

"Hello." She said and he staggered as her familiar sweet tone greeted him. "Are you the new doctor?"

"Doctor? No I'm not a doctor."

"Are you a psychologist?" she said with a face of distaste.

"No." He cleared his throat, "not one of those either."

"Then who are you?" she said and slowly got off the bench. "Are you here to help me?"

"Yes, that I am," he answered thickly.

"How?" she asked with a suspicious look.

He wanted to wipe it off her face, it didn't belong there and he was reminded yet again of just how much of her life Regina had taken from her. If he had his proper powers he'd have gone straight to the mayor's house and shown her why the people of Storybrooke feared him and not her.

He'd show her that her previous sorrow would be nothing compared to the suffering he would make her endure for tainting the woman he loved.

"I didn't mean to make you angry. It was just a question," she said quickly.

Realizing that his murderous thoughts were probably broadcasted all over his face, Gold banished Regina to the back of his mind, he'd deal with her later, and settled his gaze on the girl before him. "I'm not angry with you. I was just recalling unpleasant memories."

"I have lots of those." She said walking closer to him.

"I'm sorry for that." He said and kept his hand tightly gripping his cane. It was the only thing keeping him from dropping to his knees and begging for her forgiveness.

"It's not your fault. For the most part the memories themselves aren't so bad. It's the feelings that go with them."

"Are they bad feelings?" he asked punishing himself for not being stronger, for being a coward.

"Not bad. Just very sad, I lost someone and it hurt badly."

"I lost someone too but I have hope."

"That you'll find them?"

Gold shook his head. "That they'll find me."

Belle stepped forward at his tone. "Step into the light."

Gold tentatively urged himself forward and stepped into the bright moonlight pouring from the window. She gasped and flew backwards. "Belle…I."

"Don't come closer." She said and climbed onto her bench and curled into a ball.

"Please Belle. I would never hurt you." He said inching closer to her. She made no sound and he kneeled in front of her. The floor was cold and wet and it was seeping into his very bones but he didn't care. He'd endure any amount of pain if only it would wipe away her wild-eyed look.

"You're not real. You're just a nightmare." She cried digging her hands into the wall behind her and making her nails bleed.

He tried not to wince as he forced the injured muscle to get back up. "I'll leave," he whispered.

He managed a few steps but her wail brought him up short and his leg unprepared for the sudden change of direction collapsed and he dropped painfully to the floor. She gasped and hurried over to him. "You're really here. You're not an illusion. Tell me you're not an illusion!"

"Belle. No one else would dream of me."

She looked down and softly touched his face. "Who broke your spell?"

He tried to smile but it was just a mocking twist of his lips and she immediately bent to help him up. He leaned on her until she had him standing with his back flush to the wall. "No one. No one has broken my spell."

Belle's hand slowly left the arm she'd been holding and slid it to his chest and under his suit jacket. His heartbeat was strong and loud beneath her palm. "You've changed," she said placing her head over her own hand.

"It is a new curse. Worse than before."

Belle removed herself from his chest and walked a little distance from him. He nearly groaned aloud at the loss of contact but her angry voice got his attention. "Why are you here now? After all this time? Why did you leave me here?"

He closed his eyes, "I thought you gone. I was told a terrible tale and I created a horrible curse to punish myself for letting you go. I came as soon as I found out that I'd been deceived. I only want to free you and restore what was stolen."

Belle balled her hands and turned on him. "You tossed me out. You left me alone in a world that hated me for loving you. I suffered because of you. I lost my happiness. How will you restore that? How will you give me back what you stole from me?"

"I can't and you deserve better."

"You don't get it." She shouted, "I don't want better, I want you. I've always wanted you but I don't want you if you're only doing it so you're not lonely."

"That's not why I'm here."

"Prove it. Prove to me you are here for more than that broken cup. Prove that you need me as much as I needed you."

He dropped his cane and with great determination he hobbled over to her. She stood still and he understood that this was his test. The distance between them had to be breached alone without her assistance and support. He had to prove that he was the man she thought he was.

Her face showed no change until his hands ghosted over her jaw, cupped her face and kissed her.

She melted into his kiss and held onto his slim frame with all she had. They lost all pretenses when she buried her hands in his light brown hair and he buried his face in crook of her neck. "Is that proof enough?"

She nodded and he wordlessly walked back to the wall and held onto it as he picked up his cane from where he dropped it. "Now I'm going to take you out of here."

"Where will you take me?"

"A new home."

"Your home?" she asked holding the door open and helping him around the corridor, past the shocked nurse and up the stairs. She held onto his waist and he smirked at the many nurses and volunteers and past the beaten man that had been her father. "They'll be talking before the doors close."

"There's always talk," she said and held onto him a little tighter.

The air outside was crisp and full of the coming winter storms and he was greatly wishing he'd have thought to bring her some clothes. He took off his jacket and draped it over her. "Need a lift?" Emma Swan asked pushing off the police cruiser and opening the back door.

"Determined to get me to confess, aren't we?"

"Don't flatter yourself. I'd figured that since mo...nobody will be pressing charges, that this might be my only chance to put you in the back of my squad car and you don't want the girl to freeze."

"In that case thank you, Ms. Swan."

He and Belle sat in the back and for once he was grateful the sheriff wasn't Graham. He knew that Regina would be looking for loopholes in his call but at least with Emma he could drop his guard a bit and not worry about her being grilled later as Graham would have been.

He directed the sheriff to his home but he needn't have bothered as she was already headed that way. "I know you're dying to ask, so go ahead."

"And owe you another one? No thanks." Emma replied.

"This one is on me. Ask before I lose my charitable spirit." He said tiredly.

"Are you Arabella French?" Emma asked the girl.

Gold felt her squeeze his arm and he patted her hand to reassure her. He noticed that Emma's eyebrow raised at the contact. "I am." Belle responded.

"In that case, I'm Sheriff Emma Swan. Pleasure to meet you."

"Thank you." Belle replied and stared out the passing scenery in wonder. It occurred to him that he had no idea just how long she'd been cooped up. **'Had she any idea of just how far they'd been moved? What exactly had happened to her when she'd left his castle? What did her father actually do and what had been lies?'**

They pulled up at Gold's home and Emma killed the engine and got out. She offered to assist Mr. Gold who seemed very tired all of a sudden but Belle assured her that she could manage. She was thanked again for her concern.

"Mr. Gold?"

"Yes, Sheriff."

"She is willingly going with you, right? It's not a deal to stay away from her father?"

"Goodnight, Ms. Swan."

"Goodnight. Mr. Gold. I'll be checking on you in the morning."

"I don't doubt it."

Belle waved at Emma and the young woman waved back and drove away. "Graham is gone isn't he?"

"A lot has changed." Gold replied entering his home.

Belle locked the door and found him sitting in the living room with a bottle of pills in his hand. "Do you need water?"

"No." he replied.

"Do you need something else?" she asked anxiously.

"Sit next to me."

She sat and he leaned against her. "This could be your home, if you'd like."

"Are you offering me a deal?"

He sat up straight and looked away from her. "No deals."

"I'll stay for now but eventually I will have to see my father. I will have to deal with this new world and with that woman and what she did to me…to you."

He agreed and wished her a good night. He lay in his bed wondering how long it would take Regina to see that she had lost the moment she stolen Belle from him. Not that the fate of Storybrooke really mattered to him anyway.

He had Belle back and this time his power would be used to protect her. This time he wouldn't be a coward. He giggled in a manner uncharacteristic to this persona and drifted off to sleep safe in the knowledge that the happy endings were beginning to come back and it would only be a matter of time before she'd be back in his castle where she belonged if she'd have him.


	2. Two Sides To Every Deal

**It was supposed to be a one shot. I wanted to answer how I figured Belle might know about the cup. **

**Enjoy...still too fluffy for Rumbelle Wars. (I guess that makes me a medic)**

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><p>It had been eight months since she'd been out of the hospital and been found by Rumplestiltskin but the nightmares had only increased since then. She figured it had to be the curse's punishment for being one of the few that remembered and she remembered quite a bit.<p>

Even now it was strange to go anywhere in town and interact with the mild mannered clerks that made up the fairytale world and seeing Ashley and Ruby and know who they used to be while keeping quiet. It was even more awkward with Mary Margaret and Emma.

Mary Margaret was kindness herself but she'd heard when out in her travels, that it had been her husband, Prince James that had captured Rumple with the help of Prince Thomas, and as such tried not to be too testy with David and Sean, but it was difficult.

She had no illusions as to the kind of deals Rumple made and knew that the fear of him was genuinely earned but it still made her angry that people made these deals and called him a devil without thinking about their own desperate parts in them even in this world.

And despite his cold treatment of her, her sympathetic button was always pushed when she noticed how harshly he was treated by the folk of Storybrooke. She knew he cultivated their dislike but it was during his unguarded moments when she observed him walking by himself to his shop or home that she had to try hard not to go to him while the rest of their world went on uncaring.

Belle had since built up a comfortable, if stilted rapport that though not yet fully romantic in nature, not from lack of trying on her part, at least painted him in a more human light to his fellow town folk and it made her happy that people were seeing him with much kinder eyes.

Though she didn't need to hide that she met with him due to her father's loans and most of the town was aware of their interactions, she still found legitimate reasons for seeing him though the gossip only bothered him when it had to deal with her, which was often.

And that was why when the rent was due and she'd made a fresh basket of muffins that just happened to be his favorite, she went to visit her unwilling love.

She felt eyes on her and immediately spotted the Sheriff exiting Granny's. She knew that Emma had been watching her very closely for the last month in an effort to protect her from Mr. Gold's constant refusals and the heartbreak it caused her, and though it annoyed her that she was being seen as someone that needed to be protected, she appreciated the blonde's good intentions.

So she nodded and the sheriff nodded back. It was their way of saying that help was not needed for the moment but that she'd be available if it were.

Belle gathered her coat tighter and ran the last few steps to his shop to avoid the sudden deluge. The light was still on and she hurriedly opened the door.

"Good afternoon. Belle."

"Hello. Mr. Gold. I brought the rent and some muffins. Cranberry," she said shaking her damp hair.

Gold glanced up from his paperwork and pointed to a teapot and cups that looked like it was just waiting to be used. "That sounds delightful."

She frowned at his formal tone but she didn't argue as she turned the sign to closed and began preparing what she hoped would become their daily tea time. "It's really starting to come down isn't it?"

He put away the remaining inventory sheets and seated himself next to her. She passed him his tea and he let his hands linger on hers so that the cup was pressed between their hands for a second. This was the first time he shown her any encouragement in months and she glanced at him curiously.

His moods had always been difficult to understand and in this place they shifted constantly.

"Yes, I suppose I'll have to close for the next few days. No one will come in a downpour."

"I'll still visit." She said and handed him a muffin.

He took it and his mouth curled into a tiny smile that brightened up his face and dislodged the morose atmosphere there had been when she first entered. "I expect you will. Are you settling well?"

Belle fiddled with her spoon unsure of what she could say that would not upset him. He worried so much about her well being that it had taken two weeks just to get him to say hello to her, after the month he asked Regina for had been up, for fear the queen would go after her again.

"Papa is more understanding, I guess."

"But?"

"He looks at me oddly. Like he doesn't know what to do with me. The queen has poisoned him against me and I have nightmares of the things he says when he thinks I'm not around. About his desire for revenge for what you did to him and what he calls my unnatural feelings for you. He thinks I am confused but I know what I feel."

She looked down at her hands embarrassed for her father's ignorance of this wonderful man beside her but he reached out and held them in silent thanks for her defense of him. She instantly felt terrible for ruining their first little moment, since she started visiting with her wretched worries and she struggled to shake the darkness loose from her mind.

"I've been meaning to ask. What happened between you and my father? Why does he hate you so?"

"I don't think that now it the time…"

"Rumple, tell me." She gripped his hand and smiled at how his beautiful elegant fingers wrapped around her own as if trying to shield her.

She leaned her head against his shoulder and they relaxed as he told her about collecting payment and the theft of what he had believed to be his last precious memento of hers and the severe beating that had ended with one of them in jail and the other in the hospital.

"You beat my father over a chipped cup?"

"I thought the last of you was gone it unhinged me."

"Strange man, you are. Mr. Gold." She replied forgiving him.

"That I am indeed. You never did tell me how you knew about the cup?"

"Hmmm," she said eyes semi closed absorbing the peace that only seem to happen around him.

"Back in that place when I found you. You knew about the cup. How?"

"The queen visited often and kept me abreast of the happenings of Storybrooke. She thought me mad so she never curbed her tongue. When she was in a particularly foul mood she'd bring you up and she'd torture me with stories of you getting along without me."

"Then why tell you about the cup?" he asked puzzled.

"She knew I didn't believe her and the day she killed the hunts…graham she was especially vindictive. She actually came into my cell and taunted me about how she told you I threw myself from the tower. She was gleeful as she recounted your sorrow and she wasted no time in telling me that she'd never allow you to know I was alive and that my absence had made you a bitter being with nothing to remember me by but a chipped cup."

"Regina always did love her misery and none more than that of others. Especially mine."

"Is she aware of what you know. Of what I know."

He turned slightly and rested his head against hers. "No. She'd never allow us these quiet moments if she did."

"Is that why you were so serious when I came in?"

She felt him pull away but her hand on his sleeve stayed him. "Our month has been up for some time and I cannot bear the thought of you in her clutches again."

Belle got up from the chair and stood in front of his bent form. "I'm not helpless you know. I have many allies and friends here."

He laughed but it was dry and without humor. "Like who?"

She glared down at him as he fiddled with his walking stick. "Mary Margaret, Ruby and Emma. Even Henry helps me out when I don't feel too sane and you."

"Mary Margaret, who can't get her act together with David, Ruby who can't do a simple order without pouncing on any available male or are we talking about our dear Sheriff that is still mourning the passing of the Queen's old lover and Henry, who is tied to the evil bitch. I know…" he got up pushing past her and pacing angrily in the narrow aisles of the shop. "…how about the crippled old man that would have given his name for a piece of broken crockery. Are those you allies?" he snarled.

"Yes, Mary Margaret who kisses David by the abandoned Troll Road when she can but still has time to walk with me around town and Ruby who helped me find a way to keep upbeat with all her flirty gossip while you kept away," she said slowly backing him up to the door of the shop.

He looked away but she was not backing down, not this time. "Henry with his talk of fairy tales that is truer than he knows and Emma who mourns Graham but still listens to me when I come home crying over you, who tells me to tell you to go to hell when you push me away. And you…"

She paused and gently took his cane and propped it against the counter next to him. She pined him to the shuttered door and slid her hands down his arms gently. "The crippled old man, who was the biggest ally I had when I fought the queen down in that cell."

He took a deep shuddering breath as she lifted his arms and wrapped them around herself. She pressed her body to brace him further or not let him escape, she wasn't sure anymore. "You have no clue that these arms are my safe haven. That they'll be the reason I fight for this town and its broken inhabitants. I will fight to restore their happy endings…including yours."

"I'm the villain. I can't be happy." He said roughly but that didn't stop his hands from curling around her waist and pulling her so close that her scent became his.

"I'm not a villain and my happy ending will not be complete without you."

"Promise me you'll be careful." He said giving in to her.

"I'll make you a deal. I'll be careful if you stop sending me away." She said and pressed a soft kiss to his mouth.

"Deal."


End file.
